Baby Gifts
by TeaOli
Summary: A series of reader-inspired shorts about the gifts given to Uhura and Spock's twins. These follow the events of Then Comes Spock.
1. Ensign Lynn's gift

"Oh look, k'diwa!"

Spock shifted his two bundles of joy higher onto his shoulders and turned to see what his bondmate wanted to show him.

Nyota was sitting up on their bed, surrounded by boxes of all sizes and shapes. Colorful wrapping cloths littered the area around her feet and legs. The box currently in her lap was smaller than most of the others, its wrapping cloth a soft, pearlescent white.

_It will make an aesthetically and tactilely pleasing edition the quilts Leonard had promised to make from the giftwrap_, Spock reflected as he moved closer to the bed. _If only we had been given more of it…_

Suddenly, he became aware of his adun'a laughter. His reproving frown was slight, but Nyota immediately lowered the volume of her chuckles. Seren and Saoirse slept on.

"Sorry," his wife whispered once she'd regained her control. "It's just that I _know_ you were looking at all this fabric and calculating how much more you'd need for your quilting lessons with Len."

"Leonard intends to sew the children's quilt without my assistance," he reminded her. "I was actually looking at the iridescent fabric the small box in your lap was wrapped in. It would have been beneficial had more of the baby gifts been wrapped in similar materials, as it is both pleasing to the eye and to the delicate skin of an infant."

"Spock, _all_ of the gifts are wrapped in baby-friendly material. Hiraku made it a requirement when he sent out the invitations."

He eased hios body down until he was seated as close to her as the debris on the bed would allow.

"But as most of the crewmembers he invited did not know in advance that he planned to challenge Leonard to making 'pretty baby blankets,' the effort was not coordinated, and so some of them might prove to be more appropriate than others."

Nyota shook her head. "No, honey, Len and Hiraku checked them all out before we even left the ship. They're all perfect for baby blankets.

"But, come on! You've managed to push me off track. I wanted to show you something."

"You were the one who felt compelled to mock my interest in textiles," he pointed out.

"Anyway," she said, ignoring his backtracking. The glint in her eye told him he would pay for his protest the moment he placed his daughters in their cradles. He would have to hold them for a while. They were always most comfortable in his arms. "Look at what Lynn gave us!"

Spock eyed the two tiny silver and white circlets. Vulcan script, formed of gleaming platinum, scrolled across the carved opal bangles.

Nyota slowly rotated the identical bracelets so that he could read each side.

_Live long and prosper_.

_Peace and long life_.

He did not ask the purpose in fabricating jewelry for infants. The thought did not even cross his logical mind.

"Ensign Hatter has always had good taste," he said.

* * *

**A/N:** First in a series of reader-inspired bits about gifts for the twins. PM with a gift idea and character name me if you'd like to participate. (Special thanks to LadyFangs for the baby bangles.)


	2. Auntie Val's gift

Spock quietly stood in the doorway, content to watch his bondmate as she nursed Seren Adia out on the terrace. Saoirse Ta'an slept in one of the cradles at her feet. It was pleasing to realize that he was a part of the scene, even when he had been elsewhere.

Nyota looked up from the tiny bundle in her arms. The bond worked both ways.

"A package came for you today, k'diwa. I left it inside on the desk," she whispered. "The Enterprise picked it up from Starbase 15 after we'd already left, and this was the earliest they could send it on. It's from _Val Vancampen_. I think it came from _her_. Not a just company selling her work."

The reverence in her tone was not surprising. While he had told her he was acquainted with the renowned fiber artist, she had never questioned the extent of their relationship. Spock turned from the doorway and returned to the bedchamber to retrieve the package.

"It is more than likely that Auntie Val has sent us another baby gift," he told her as he carried a rectangular parcel, roughly the size of four boxes designed to hold the shoes of a Terran woman out to the terrace. "I mentioned your pregnancy when I last spoke with her, and she said that she would 'whip up a little something for those little girls.'"

Through the bond, he sensed her surprise turn into shock.

"_Auntie_ Val?" In deference to the now-sleeping infant, she did not raise her voice, but the incredulity was evident. "You said you knew her, but you never told me you were _that_ close."

"My mother met her during one of her visits to Earth. For many years, they corresponded and exchanged quilting patterns and techniques," he told her. "During my first year at the Academy, Val frequently 'checked in with me.' She doubtlessly reported information concerning my adjustment to my mother. She took her role as 'adoptive aunt' quite seriously. After my second year, she insisted that I spent at least part of any extensive breaks with her and her family.

He took a chair close to his bondmate's chair and the cradles, and opened the box.

"She has sent handmade 'quiet books.' Terran crafters in the twenty-first century made them popular articles to pacify children during event where silence was expected," he told her. "Auntie Val is also a quilting teacher and her work is held to be responsible for much of the renewed interest in the books."

He traced a long finger over the intricate appliqué of a brown dairy cow grazing in a pasture. Strips of silk fabric — nearly fine enough to be mistaken for embroidery — in varying shades of green, made a texture he believed his daughter's infant fingers would find interesting.

"Val believes that the books should be stimulating as well as pacifying. This series is meant to correspond to each of several levels of their development."

Nyota stood and placed Seren Adia in her cradle, then joined Spock in looking over the contents of the package.

"These are beautiful," she breathed. "I had no idea she also made such wonderful things — and by hand, no less — for babies. These must have taken ages. I think girls are gonna love 'Auntie' Val!"

Spock turned to another page in the book. This one showed a red domesticated fowl pecking at glistening yellow "seeds" in a barnyard.

_Yes_, he thought, _Auntie Val tends to have that effect_.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to "Auntie Val" (starquilter) for the gifts.

Disclaimer: I don't any Star Trek characters or concepts. All character based on real people have been depicted with the express permission of the person in question.


	3. Captain Kirk's gift

Nyota felt a ripple of amusement flow through Spock as she leaned over his shoulder, watching him page through Auntie Val's quiet book full of farm animals. She tried and failed to imagine what about the exquisitely rendered scenes he found funny.

"What has you on the verge of a most unVulcan-like fit of laughter," she asked, smiling a little herself.

Her husband closed the book without answering and rose to his feet. She sank into the chair he'd just vacated, blinking in confusion as he crossed the terrace again and disappeared into their bedchamber.

He returned moments later, carrying the largest of the cloth-wrapped bundles they had been slowly opening and making note of in order to send out appropriate thank-you communications. Kneeling in front of her, he placed the large box, covered in command-gold, into her lap.

"Val's gift reminded me of your first meeting with James Tiberius Kirk," he said without preamble.

Nyota scrunched up her face as she tried to figure out how a drunken brawl in an Iowan bar could be associated with Val Vancampen's beautiful artwork. All at once she saw the connection and had to choke back a laugh of her own, so as not to wake the babies.

"_Farm_ animals!" she chortled. "Only _you_, k'diwa. Only you would think about that night while looking at a baby's book."

Spock merely raised an eyebrow and gestured with his chin to the box on her lap.

She shook her head, still smiling, and began searching for the seal to the gift wrap.

"Who is this one from?" she asked. Although she had her suspicions, when dealing with Spock, one was wise to make certain.

"James Tiberius Kirk."

She looked up in time to see a fleeting smirk leave his handsome face. Suspicion stopped her hands moving.

"You know what's in here, don't you?" she asked, knowing the expression she wore was guarded.

"Maintaining suspense among his friends is not among the captain's strong suits," he pointed out. "Leonard told me he has not been surprised by a single one of the surprise parties Jim has planned since their first year at the Academy."

Nyota thought about the few of their captain's surprises that truly _had been_ surprising. She pushed the box towards Spock.

"Maybe _you_ should open it."

Her husband smiled fully at that.

"There is nothing dangerous about this gift, beloved," he promised her. "It is meant for our daughters and has prior approval from Leonard."

She wrinkled her nose at him, but scooted the box back up her legs. Quickly finding the seal, she pulled of the cloth and set it aside for Len's quilt.

The box was filled with stacks and stacks of soft natural cloth in an array of colors. She pulled out one large pile and realized she was holding more than a dozen newborn-sized bodysuits. Spock lifted the box from her lap and she placed the pile of baby clothes in its place.

"I don't understand," she said, glancing up at her half-Vulcan curiously. "This was actually pretty thoughtful of Jim."

"Open one up," Spock ordered.

With a last suspicious glance at his carefully composed face, she complied.

And her mouth dropped open.

"Jim has assured me that there are enough jumpsuits and t-shirts, in enough sizes, to last our daughters through the time they are old enough for him to look after in our absence," he told her.

"As if we'd ever let that man babysit our babies," she retorted with a soft snort, sill staring at the little green diaper shirt.

"As a child, Jim passed a babysitting certification course."

Nyota glared at him and turned the shirt around so that the words and picture on the front was facing him.

"Yes, beloved, I know," Spock said

He reach out to touch the fuzzy brown cartoon chick sewn into the fabric beneath one line of embroidered words that read

"**Uncle Jim's**"

and above a line that simply said

"**Magnet**.

Spock lifted a face glinting with barely held-in-check humor to meet his wife's eyes.

"As he has told me you intimated on the night he met you, it would seem that Jim might harbor a romantic interest in farm animals."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to TheSouthernScribe for suggesting Kirk's gift! (See a photo manip of this gift at lj's spock_uhura comm.)

Disclaimer: I don't anything Star Trek. Onsies (Reg U.S. Pat & TM Off.) is a registered trademark of Gerber Childrenswear, and, as I know from the letters they have sent to my newspaper, they vigorously protect the name.


	4. Ambassador Spock's gift

**"Uncle" Spock's gift** (FF won't let me use this title for some reason)

Astra cooed as Seren Adia yawned in her arms. Spock stroked Saoirse Ta'an's pointed ear. The twins' parents stood, sides pressed together, watching their daughters getting to know the other couple. Both infants would be asleep soon, but for now, all four adults were captivated.

The elderly ambassador inclined his head towards the dark green bundle lying on his counterpart's desk. He was curious to see the reaction to the gift he and his companion had brought with them.

The young half-Vulcan retrieved the present and ceded the honor to his bondmate.

Uhura sat down on their bed and made short work of opening it. Apparently, she was as curious as he was.

Then she pulled out the furry contents. "Um, what are they?" Clearly, she was trying to hide her dismay.

Spock smiled. The form came more easily and more frequently to his lips than those of his t'dahsu. And yet his t'dahsu was more comfortable openly, sometimes even physically, expressing his affections. He cuddled the little one closer to his chest.

_Of course, exceptions must be made for babies_, he told himself.

"They are stuffed toys, Nyota," he said aloud, deliberately not answering the question she was really asking. "Terran children often become attached to such things."

Her eyes flashed at first, but then a delighted grin spread across her face. He was pleased she was coming to understand him better.

"Stop teasing! You know what I meant."

"They are fairly accurate scale models of sehlats," her bondmate explained before Spock could torment her further. "I believe these two are meant to be representations I-Chaya. He was my friend."

Nyota's eyes darted back and forth between the two Spocks.

"The one your mother called a 'Vulcan teddy bear'?" she asked the elder.

"Indeed. It was the memory of that remark which led me to having them commissioned." His smile widened to a mischievous grin.

"The one who had six-inch fangs," Astra supplied with a charming giggle.

"While several successful breeding programs have been initiated using offworld specimens, it will be quite a long time before any sehlats are available as personal companions," he explained. "I hope that these two will be sufficient until that time."

He was not sure if Nyota's shudder was in fear or in appreciation for his continued teasing.

Astra laid the sleeping Seren Adia in the crib.

Spock set down his own precious burden next to her sister and stood over the two children who could have been his had his world been different.

Nyota came to stand beside him and tucked a white-fanged furry brown lump on either side of her daughters.

She touched his forearm and smiled up at him. "They're perfect."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to Nyotarules and DizzyDrea for each (separately) coming up with the same gifts and the same giver!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Star Trek.


	5. Ensign Dixon's gift

Although more than thirty years had passed since he had last held an infant, Sarek found he had not lost the feel for it the first time he held one of his granddaughters.

It was important that Seren Adia and Saoirse Ta'an became accustomed to the physical contact. He did not raise his mental shields when his granddaughters were in his arms. Their own innate shielding instinct would raise a rudimentary buffer if the wealth of love and yes, possession, he felt while looking into their familiar brown eyes threatened to overwhelm. While they were this young, there was no better way he or Spock could teach them.

______________

Uhura stood in the entryway to the parlor and watched her father-in-law watching her daughters. Soon enough, the girls would be too big for him to hold them as he did now, one in each arm, both pressed against a shoulder, each tiny head secured with a large gentle hand.

Occasionally, he sat, a baby resting along the length of each arm, and looked down into their little faces. She expected to see sorrow etched across his face when they focused brown eyes that were nothing like Nyota's own on their sa'mehk'al, but of course she didn't see anything at all.

The family bond — the same one that had driven Spock to lock them in their room for several hours every day and night during the last months of her pregnancy — allowed her to sense the joy Sarek felt instead.

She left the three to their communing and carried her package to the room she shared with Spock.

______________

The letter from Yvette Dixon was long and gossipy, filled with snippets of news from home and detailed descriptions of her new life teaching chemistry in England.

_The children hate the cold!_ She wrote. _Every day one of them ask me how long they must wait to bask in the heat of Garissa once more. Of course, they don't say it exactly _that_ way! It's usually something like, "When are we going _home_, Mama?"_

Uhura smiled at the thought of her old friend's three small children, certain that Yvette's seemingly endless patience was up to the task of appeasing them day after day.

Nine-year-old Yvette had been three-year-old Nyota Uhura's best friend, greatest heroine and goddess all wrapped into one serene little girl. On the days when Upenda and Muta had admonished her to stay in the house while they tore about the compound having "big kid" adventures, Yvette, the daughter of one of her mother's though colleagues at the university and two whole years older than Upenda, had been willing to sit with the youngest Uhura, practicing Standard and French, or reading books about other little girls whose adventures took place in the stars.

"Will you join Starfleet when you grow up?" Nyota had asked when she was five and she and Yvette had sat under a thorn tree, heads pressed together over a PADD containing the story of a young cadet's first year at the Academy. "That way, I won't have to make new friends when I get to the Academy."

Yvette had laughed kindly and explained that the Academy only lasted four years for undergraduates. If she attended, she would already be gone by the time Nyota entered the elite school.

"Then I shall have to work hard so that I can get there _before_ I grow up!"

True to her promise, Nyota _had_ worked hard, and Yvette, who had joined Starfleet for reasons that had nothing to do with her young friend's desire to see the stars, entered her final year the same term Nyota began her first. Academy dynamics — Science versus Xenolinguistics — and their vastly different schedules — first year course load versus final year course load — meant they couldn't spend as much time together as either of them wanted.

Fortunately by then, Nyota had learned how to make friends her own age, but all too soon, Yvette was graduating and getting ready for her first assignment, on the Curie, a science vessel charged with studying two newly formed nebulae at the edge of the Neutral Zone.

_I bundle them up in scarves and mittens and hats and thick sweaters before sending them off to play with their friends. They return to the house complaining that everyone else says it's Spring and too warm to be wearing so many clothes_.

_Children_! _You will learn, Nyota, they can be even more contrary than husbands_.

But Ensign Dixon had been injured during an attack on the Curie. Recovery had been long and trying, but she'd regained the use of her left arm. She could have become a Starfleet researcher, but the stars had never been her dream. They had just been another means of exploring the universe.

She'd met her future husband, an English-born doctor who's grandparents had come from the Ijara District, during her rehabilitation. Love had made her decision for her.

When Starfleet Medical offered Michael a position at a specialized hospital on a small installation in Northern England, she'd applied to teach at the installation's secondary school.

_Starships can be cold! You already know that. But if your little girls are anything like my three, they will not appreciate being taken from the searing heat of __T'Khasi Vokaya__ to the cold corridors of a giant "tin can in space." Not even if that can is the great Enterprise!_

_Hopefully, you will find these to be of some use upon your return_.

Uhura placed the note on the desk and reached into the package. She laughed aloud at what she found inside, then returned to reading Yvette's letter.

* * *

She'd finished the letter and managed to organize the wrapping clothes for all of the gifts she and Spock had already opened when the bedroom door chimed.

_Sarek_, she sensed.

"Enter."

The sight of her Vulcan father-in-law walking into her room with two sleeping babies in a sling across his chest made her want to giggle and coo simultaneously.

Sarek gently lifted first one, then the other, infant from the cloth sling and placed each in the crib.

Uhura smiled when he turned to her.

"The girls received another gift today. From Earth," she told him. "My friend thinks starships are cold."

"I have often found that to be the case."

Laughing, she showed him the two sets of tiny pointy earmuffs. The fleecy yellow ear covers were linked with a soft, flexible covered in the same fabric.

"Yvette made them herself," she explained.

Sarek took one pair from her and examined it closely.

"Could she be prevailed upon to make a pair for Spock?" he asked.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to CMW2 for this idea.

Disclaimer: I don't any Star Trek characters or concepts. All character based on real people have been depicted with the express permission of the person in question.


	6. Sa'mekh'al's gift

Nyota Uhura had been an adequate, if unwitting, instructor. His admittedly cursory involvement in creating her wedding gift for Spock had been sufficient to spark his imagination and prepare him for this task.

He was gratified to note that having the shipment from Earth arrive in the diplomatic packet had kept his son and daughter-in-law from asking questions. He was even happier to see that Samuel had been most accommodating in supplying that which he had not previously had access to.

Sarek had not been impressed with all of the gifts his sa-fu and ko-fu had been given to mark the birth of their daughters. While generally practical, the majority of the presents had been more indicative of the givers' wishes and personalities than suited to the needs of his granddaughters or the circumstances of Spock's and Nyota's life on a starship.

The earmuffs would undoubtedly be put too good use — not only in keeping the little ones warm — but also in providing a buffer to the ambient noise that even the best sound-proofing could not filter out of the ship's living quarters.

The quiet books would serve as effective early-learning tools, as well helping to foster an appreciation for fine craftsmanship and aesthetics.

He found James Kirk's gift to be crass, though it was certainly generous. If their parents allowed it (and Sarek liked to believe they would not), Saoirse Ta'an and Seren Adia would be helping "Uncle Jim" for years to come.

He was pleased that their Aunt Upenda had given them facsimiles of lambs rather than following the tradition of her father's people and providing living specimens for slaughter.

The toy sehlats his older son had provided were a similarly better alternative to live beasts, however that gift had been rooted not in cultural tradition, but rather in sentiment.

Sarek saw the logic sentimentality.

He had long been familiar with the concept, of course. One could not spend more than thirty years with a human woman without seeing its effects, first hand.

But now that he had spent six point nine two years without her by his side, he had a more personal experience of the emotion.

It was nearly complete. He selected the final scene for the holovid, scrolled back to the beginning, to the footage Sam Grayson had sent him, then turned on the voice recorder.

"My granddaughters," he began, "your ko'mekh'il was an extraordinary woman."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to faithspeaks for this idea.

Disclaimer: I don't anything Star Trek. Not the characters. Not the concepts. Not any of the technology.


	7. Alanis Lavadure's gift

Spock eyed the small box Upenda had carried from Earth in her portable stasis unit. It contained two sheets of paper and what appeared to be two twigs decorated with string and feathers.

The gifts were from a friend Nyota had met while attending young linguists conference in her early adolescence. Both young women had presented papers on vanishing indigenous languages. The girl who had grown up to become his wife had been "blown away" by the Chippewa's work.

"She was so good, her presentation so polished and detailed, I knew I had to work five times as hard after hearing her speak," she had said in his presence on seven separate occasions. "I probably would have been just another Wakufunzi kid, dabbling in the family business, if I hadn't been for Alanis."

Nyota seemed delighted with the small loops of twisted red willow, but had not yet explained their purpose.

Idly, he stroked the hawk feather hanging from the lines of sinew that stretched across the one of the loops.

"You don't know what they are, do you?" His wife's voice was tinged with barely restrained laughter

"They appear to be rather ephemeral," he replied without actually answering the question and set the gift next to its nearly identical twin on the table.

"They're supposed to be!" A short burst of laughter erupted from Nyota's lovely mouth and her dark eyes danced as she handed him the accompanying letter. She leaned back to watch him, the hint of a smug smile still curving her lips slightly. "They'll only last as long as the girls' childhood."

He glanced at it briefly and lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "I cannot read this, Nyota," he told her.

Her grin broadened.

"Oh! Sorry about that." She reached into the box once again and, twitching the handmade paper out of his hands, exchanged it for another sheet. "That was in Anishinaabemowin. Here's a translation."

"It is written in Vulcan," he noted as he began reading the familiar script. "I was not aware of a need for Vulcan transcribers in Montana."

"She's multitalented," she told him, still sounding rather smug.

Scanning the letter, Spock quickly committed the legends behind the Chippewa tradition of crafting dream catchers to protect babies from nightmares.

Placing the letter on the table, he picked up the dream catcher again and studied the intricate webbing.

"I had nightmares until I was five Terran years old," he said quietly. "It is disconcerting to imagine that I endured them only for want of such a simple object.."

Nyota's cool hand closed over his shoulder. He covered it with his own.

"We must send Ms. Lavadure a message of our gratitude," he told her.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to TamarinaDC for this gift and ccharacter idea.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything here.


	8. Scotty's gift

Spock carried the largest box out onto the terrace. Although he had initially been reluctant to join Nyota in a game of guessing what its contents might, there was little he was willing to refuse his bondmate as she recovered from giving birth to their daughters, and he had eventually come to enjoy hearing her increasingly outrageous speculations about Mr. Scott's gift.

Neither really wished to open it and find out what was truly inside, but Saoirse Ta'an and Seren Adia were already six Terran weeks old. The whole family would leave T'Khasi Vokaya for the Enterprise. Neither wished to risk hurting the chief engineer's feelings.

At his approach, Nyota looked up from where she knelt on a blanket spread out between the two cradles. Gently, she rocked one with each hand. He could hear his daughters cooing.

Smiling at him as he sat the tartan-covered box before her, she then furrowed her brows in mock thought.

"Two cases of Baby's First Single Malt," was her next guess.

Spock's lips quirked up.

"The box id not heavy enough for that, beloved," he told her. "_The Complete Course_:_ in Quantum Mechanics for Infants_."

She laughed softly, and leaned forward a kiss he was more than willing to supply.

After coming up for air, and having secured a promise of "more, later" from his bondmate, he began to carefully unwrap the box.

"I am unsure how Leonard will incorporate this fabric into the quilts in a manner that is aesthetically pleasing," he mused as he stripped off the dark blue and green plaid. "There is such a great amount of it, I doubt even he is equal to the task of hiding it among the other patterns."

Laughing again, Nyota delivered a light blow to his upper arm with her small fist.

"Just open it, silly," she ordered, eyes alight.

Spock ticked up an eyebrow and lifted one corner of his mouth.

"I am never 'silly,' beloved," he protested while doing as he had been told. "Truly, do you not think it might be a good idea to request Auntie Val's insight on how best to incorporate this into the design? I believe Leonard will thank us for our intervention."

She did not answer, but the mischievous look in her eyes told him that she was thinking about at least _one time_ when his behavior could have been deemed more than just a little silly.

"The events of the day after my 'stag night' are wholly attributable to Ensign Chekov's 'wedding gift,'" he pointed out. "It is unfair to assess me based on my behavior that day."

"Trust me, Spock," she told him with a wink McCoy would have deemed 'saucy', "I wasn't judging you for your behavior that day."

Patting his cheek, she sat back on her heels, eagerly waiting — or perhaps, dreading — to see what was inside.

"One more, Nyota?" he offered.

She touched a finger to her lips as she thought, and he felt and urge to kiss again. Thoughts of "more, later" enabled him to hold himself in check.

"Cookbooks," she suggested after a long pause. "_One Thousand and One Sandwiches for Babies_. _One Thousand and One Sandwiches for Toddlers_. _One Thousand and One Sandwiches for Pre-Teens_. _One Thousand and One_— "

"I am beginning to 'get the picture,'" he cut in. His words left her laughing and he felt a spike of joy at having caused it. Pretending to narrow his concentration, he came up with, "Miniature tool sets."

Rolling her eyes, Nyota shook her head. They had probably already made all of the most humorous guesses. Unperturbed that his jest had fallen flat, Spock opened the box.

He reached in and pulled out...

"They appear to be cloth baskets attached to independent propelling apparatus, no doubt of Mr. Scott's own design," he observed, staring at the bright purple objects curiously. "Each has two holes in the bottom, however." He looked up at his bondmate. "Surely he doesn't expect up to place the girls _inside_ his contraption!"

Nyota fell backwards, laughing at his emotional display. She only just caught herself before hitting the floor of the terrace.

"Don't look so horrified, Spock!" she cried.

He felt his lips thinning.

"Vulcans do not look—"

"Well, my handsome half-Vulcan husband certainly does," she interrupted as she righted herself. "I think they're supposed to be baby jumpers, k'diwa. They're supposed to entertain or exercise infants, or something like. Seren Adia and Saoirse Ta'an are far too young for them yet."

Somewhat mollified, Spock nodded and placed the "baby jumpers" back in the box.

"We shall revisit this gift when our daughters are older," he decided.

Nyota smirked at him.

"Don't worry Spock, if Scotty made them himself, I'm sure they'll be safe."

"They'd better be," he said.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to recumbentgoat for the gift idea. (Stop by her profile t check out her amazing TOS series: u/457458/recumbentgoat)

Disclaimer: I don't any Star Trek characters or concepts.


	9. Sulu's gift

Uhura stood over the pair of cribs, studying her daughters' sleeping faces. Only six weeks old, Saoirse Ta'an and Seren Adia already resembled Spock more than they looked like their mother.

At least, they did when they were awake. There was more to that observation than the delicately pointed ears and the slanted brows that heralded their Vulcan heritage; during their waking moments, the girls' intensely alert gazes and quiet awareness was so reminiscent of their handsome father, at times Uhura told herself that without their soft brown skin, she would have wondered if there was anything of herself in her daughters.

While they sleeping, however, they appeared considerably more human.

Seren Adia would not rest easily in her cot if her cherished toy sehlat was not tucked at her feet; Saoirse Ta'an slept with four fingers of her left hand pushed into her little mouth.

Uhura leaned over to kiss both of her precious gifts, then straightened and turned to find her husband, their father, watching her from the doorway of their bedroom. A half-smile lingered on the half-Vulcan's lips.

"We shall only be gone for five hours, Nyota," he reminded her, his voice grave.

She grinned ruefully. "I know," she said, sighing softly. "And Upenda and Astra will take _excellent_ care of them. I know that, too. It's just… this is the first time we'll be leaving them. I mean, for the first time in their whole lives, I'll be far enough away from them that I won't hear if they wake up crying or— It's all well and good for _you_, k'diwa. You'll still be with them, no matter where we are, but I'm still growing accustomed to the bond and I don't know if it will work as well for me."

Spock crossed the room to take her in his arms. She slid easily into position. Time and familiarity had made them like two pieces of a puzzle who fit each other exactly.

"You will know if they need you, beloved," he murmured into her hair. Placing a kiss there as if to punctuate his words, he pulled back enough so that she was able to watch his face as he said, "Of course, with Astra acting as one of their minders, they might not even notice your absence."

Had anyone else suggested that her daughters might accept the mysterious singer who bore her a startling resemblance (although she was considerably older) as their own, the new mother would have been hurt beyond reason. Her half-human husband was the exception to many rules. His teasing prediction pulled a reluctant laugh from her throat and she leaned in, tilting face up for a kiss.

Having obediently complied with his bondmate's wish, Spock released her from his embrace and took her hand in his.

"Come, adun'a," he urged. "I am eager to resume... strengthening the family bond."

His allusion to the advice his elder counterpart had given him prior to the birth of their daughters was rewarded with both the tinkling laughter he had expected from Nyota and the spike of arousal he had hoped for.

She allowed him to lead her out of the room, only looking back towards the cribs three of four times over the course of the short trip to the door.

.

Before they could leave his father's home, she sought assurances from her sister, Doctor Upenda Uhura, that she would contact her immediately if both or either of the infants fell ill in their absence. She begged Astra Boipuso — the woman who bore an older version of his bondmate's face, as well as a form of her name, and who seemed to hold the heart of his elder t'dahsu — to call if _Upenda_ was unable to do so. Finally, she secured a promise from Sarek, himself, to watch over both women and both of his granddaughters.

Only after several long moments, during which Spock not only lost track of his internal clock, but also found himself compelled to return to the sleeping chamber to bid his daughters farewell again and again (Nyota had arched a smug brow at him when he'd returned from his third "bye-bye kiss"), and Doctor Leonard McCoy showed up threatening to aapropriate their reservations at the water spa, were they able to force themselves to leave.

The series of oases scattered around the planet was an advantage — second only to the presence of a moon that pulled at the tides of the single ocean, in Uhura's opinion — T'Khasi Vokaya had over the original Vulcan homeworld. The spa Spock was taking her to wasn't located on the largest or even the most beautiful oasis, but it was just outside the city the in which Sarek lived and worked and would keep them close to their little girls.

.

The trip through the city took just over half an hour (Why had they decided to walk? Oh, that's right. She was still trying to lose her "baby weight."), and almost before she knew it, the landscape had gone from beautifully cruel red and brown desert sands to lush green plant-life as vividly alive as the blood that followed through her husband's body.

"Oh Spock," she gasped when the spa first came into view, "it's gorgeous!"

And it was.

The small edifice built of creamy-pale stone had been set in the center of a massive verdant garden. A riot of colors greeted them in the form of hundreds of varieties of flowers, flowering shrubs and blossoming trees.

"Hikaru would be in heaven!" she noted excitedly.

Spock's smile, when he looked at her, was wide, but enigmatic. "Yes," he said. "We will have to tell Lieutenant Sulu about this place."

Shaking her head at his mysterious mood, she hugged close to his arm as they crossed the garden to enter the main building.

He felt Nyota's delight grow with each item she read from the spa's "menu" of offered services and products. Her joy fueled his own and soon he was too eager to get started for his usually extensive patience to overcome his desire to snatch the brochure from her hands and tell her what he already had planned.

"We will not be indulging in any of these things, adun'a," he told her.

Before the disappointment that instantly flashed through their bond could show on her face, he whipped from his back the rucksack he had carried to the spa.

"I have reserved a private cottage for our use," he explained. He held up the bag. "And I believe that at least one of our friends has provided us with items that rival the products made by the staff here."

.

She let him bustle her off to the cottage that would be theirs for the next three hours. Once inside the tiny stone house, all traces of disappointment fled.

His secretive smile was starting to make sense.

The cottage had clearly been outfitted with un-Vulcan-like relaxation in mind. A deep bath carved from glossy charcoal-colored stone stood in the center of the single room. A large, soft-looking pallet lay on the floor adjacent to the far wall. Perpendicular to that was a low seat , built into the wall, and featuring a view looking out to a secluded section of the garden. A screen of vines over the glass-less window was apparently meant to provide privacy.

"Even Vulcans need to manage physical stress, Nyota," Spock corrected as if he had read her thoughts, which, of course, he had.

He led her over to the bench and indicated she should sit. Once she had complied, he knelt at her feet and opened the rucksack.

First, he pulled out a paper envelope and handed to it to her.

She raised a brow (more paper?) and took it from him.

Inside, she found a note:

_Dear Nyota and Spock,_

_My mom was the first of her friends to have kids, so I was already around by the time my various unrelated "aunties" started having kids._

_I remember how Mom used to drag me to baby showers all the time back when I was still young and cute enough that all the moms-to-be were secretly hoping their kid would come out something like me._

_I also remember how much I used to wish that some of the toys the women inevitably received were for me._

_But, my clearest memory, perhaps because it was reinforced so often at home, was that Mom never gave an expectant mother toys or baby blanket or little tiny clothes they'd outgrow in a month._

_"You know what a new mom really needs, Karu?" she used to ask me._

_Of course I didn't know, I was a three-year-old hoping that if I was a good boy, that toy shuttlecraft Auntie Carolynn had gotten for Auntie Sal's new baby might go home with me, instead. But, I'd listen anyway, because listening was part of being a good boy._

_"A new mom needs time," she'd tell me._

_Now, I don't have a doctorate in astrophysics because I'm an idiot. And I wasn't stupid back then, either, though I will admit to a certain lack of knowledge when it came to understanding women beyond the roles of "Auntie" and "Mom." But, like I said, I was three. What's your excuse, Spock? *snicker*_

_Sorry for the digression there._

_My point is, I thought I'd show off how clever I was by pointing out to my mother that it would be impossible to give a new mom the gift of time, so what was wrong with giving her something really neat like a toy shuttlecraft that her favorite "nephew" could keep safe until the baby was old enough to play with it herself._

_Fortunately for me, Mom thought I was cute, too._

_She explained that after "nine months of body-changing stuff," a woman needed time to do something to "feel good about herself."_

_So, Mom always gave her friends five hours of free babysitting and a basket of homemade girlie stuff._

_She usually managed to throw in something that the new daddies (when there were new daddies) might like, as well._

_Since you two decided to abandon ship for the time being, I can't give you five hours of free babysitting just yet, but I hope you'll both feel good after using the homemade girlie stuff I'm trusting Spock not to open until Len gives you the six-week okay._

_Everything is all-natural, concocted by yours truly, using only the finest ingredients from the botany lab._

_Hikaru._

Next, Spock pulled out a medium-sized rectangular package, covered in soft orange silk printed with large pale green flowers and stems. Unlacing a darker green ribbon holding the whole thing closed, he opened the tightly packed hinged wooden box.

Inside were nearly a dozen clear and opaque bottles, each hand-labeled in Lieutenant Sulu's neat script.

Reaching inside, Uhura selected a clear bottle containing a viscous transparent liquid, tinted a hue her great-great-grandfather had often described as "the color of old pennies."

"I think we should start with a cinnamon bubble bath," she suggested.

Without a word, Spock swept her up and rose to his feet in a single fluid motion.

They spent the next three hours feeling _very _good about themselves.

* * *

"Poor thing's been through 9 months of body changing stuff! She needs to feel good about herself!" -SeshKhem

* * *

**A/N:** This gift idea (as well as the quotes from Sulu's mom) came from sesh_khem. Find her awesome work at u/2086851/SeshKhem or at the lj Spock_Uhura comm.

**EDIT:** After well over a year, I finally went ahead and fixed a few mistakes in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't any Star Trek characters or concepts.


	10. Masters's, Chapel's & Gaila's gift

Spock lifted his fingers from the ka'athyra strings. Immediately, his guests issued a series of protests. With a stern look towards the sofa where they sat, propped up in safety seats, he placed the Vulcan lyre on its stand anyway.

He correctly interpreted Seren Adia's fierce cries of "ba'asif!" as _va'ashiv_ or "once again!" and as the order it was meant to be. Saoirse Ta'an's gentler "satoo" was clearly meant to be _fator_, meaning "continue."

Saoirse Ta'an turned hopeful brown eyes his way. "Siyah-ba," she pleaded, "satoo."

_There is no doubt that these are the daughters of Nyota Uhura_, he mused. Even as half-Vulcans, the twins should not be speaking so clearly at only nine weeks.

The garbled mix of Vulcan and Kiswahili ("clear" being a relative term when referring to the speech of babies, after all) nearly changed his mind. It would, of course, illogical to even consider giving in to the whims of an infant when there were other tasks that required his attention.

_They should not have been speaking at all_, he told himself when as Seren Adia increased the volume of her demands.

He caught himself reaching for the ka'athyra again and snatched his hand back.

Astra would soon return from spending the day with Upenda and Leonard. She might be tired and hungry after undergoing the many tests the two doctors had insisted on. As eager as she had been to have the girls for their first overnight visit, surely she would not be ready to entertain them right away.

Still, Nyota and Spock had needed this time to finalize their plans for leaving T'Khasi Vokaya, and to be quite honest, he had welcomed this time spent with the girls.

Sighing, his eyes found the small case of data strips Nyota had labeled "In Case Of Emergency, Play" lying by Astra's entertainment console.

He quickly selected a strip and then returned to address his young charges.

"Would you prefer to remain in the sitting room or would you like to join me in the kitchen while I prepare dinner?" he asked them.

"Siyah-ba!" the girls chorused.

"Very well," Spock said, pleased that they had chosen to keep him company. "I will route your program to the screen in the kitchen."

With the press of a few buttons, he did as he promised, and then, lifting a seat in each hand, walked over to the swinging kitchen door and backed his way inside.

_____________

From the work surface where he chopped vegetables, Spock had a clear view of the twins as they rocked back and forth in the safety seats he had secured to two kitchen chairs. He was thankful that their gross-motor skills, though far advanced by human standards, where not so far developed that they could overturn the chairs.

Two set of eyes nearly identical to his own were riveted to the screen behind him and to his left. He knew without looking that they were watching Charlene Masters, flanked by Christine Chapel and young Zahra Jamal, sway in time with the song they were singing, while Nyota's Academy roommate, Gaila who squatted on a low stool, tapped on a djembe held between her knees.

The Orion's skillful playing wove beautifully between the other women's strong, sweet voices.

_Thula thula__  
__Thula mama, thula.__  
__Thula mama, thula.__  
__Thula mama, thula._

Spock found himself humming along as he worked.

_Samthatha  
Samthatha sambeka ekhaya  
Wasuke wakhala  
Wathi mama thula, _

he sang, and suddenly, the babies eyes were on him.

_____________

Astra let herself into the house she shared with the man whom she had loved across times and searched many universes to find, bubbling over with good news. No one greeted her at the door.

But while the sitting room was dark and empty, she noticed that the entertainment console was switched on, and she could hear faint sounds coming from the kitchen.

_Damn it!_ she thought as she hurried across the room to old-fashioned swinging door. _Couldn't Spock have waited dinner until I got home?_

She pushed open the door and was met by familiar music from a surprising source. Her feet wouldn't carry her past the threshold.

"Thula, thula mama, thula," Spock sang to his t'dahsu's daughters, as he stir-fried an assortment of vegetables.

"Oh!" Astra gasped, finally.

"Siyah-ma!" the little darlings called out happily.

Astra beamed at the three them and began singing along.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** 1. This gift idea came from SpockLikesCats over at livejournal.

2. "Siyah" means _almost_ or _nearly_ in Vulcan. "-ba" and "-ma" are derived from the Kiswahili words, baba (father) and mama (mother).

3. "Thula Mama" is a Zulu traditional lullaby, made popular by several South African vocal artists. The first time I heard it in an African Music course in college. It was love at first listen, but I really fell the next day at work when I found a recording of a traditional version of the song. The lyrics in both of those were somewhat different than what I used in this story, but the chorus and melodies are almost unchanged. (Embed for two versions of the song accompany the lj version of this chapter.)


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